Why You Should Have Your Piano Regulated

Even if you have your piano tuned regularly, you may eventually start to notice that your piano doesn’t quite feel the same as it did when it was new. This will be especially true if your piano receives a lot of use. This occurs for a variety of reasons, such as normal wear and tear to the action, excessive expansion and contraction of the wooden parts, loss of strength in the steel springs, normal felt compression, damage from moths or other bugs with an appetite for felt, or just general neglect. Even a tolerance loss of a few thousandths of an inch can cause the regulation in an action to operate differently. These changes will eventually become evident in the way the keys feel and how the piano plays. Because these parts within your action will inevitably change, it is important to have your piano regulated occasionally to return the piano back to its best playable condition.

A prudent piano owner will have their piano serviced regularly. During routine tunings, a quality technician can check for issues within the action and can even make spot regulation adjustments. A complete action regulation involves the adjustment and timing of thousands of parts that make up the action mechanism within all acoustic pianos, and this needs to be scheduled separately from a tuning, as it is a pretty time-intensive process. Occasionally having this done will keep the piano from developing response issues in the future, and keep your piano playing like you want it to. This kind of preventive care lengthens the life of the piano, and allows for the continued enjoyment of the instrument.

Having your piano regulated occasionally will make playing your piano a more pleasurable experience. Next time you have your piano tuned, ask one of our certified technicians to examine your piano’s action to see if there are some changes that could be made to help your instrument sound and play better.